One Soul Two Soul Red Soul No Soul
by no one but someone
Summary: Timelines have been Saved, Loaded, Reset, and Erased more times than anyone can count. But all of these things have happened in about a week. This time Frisk's journey through the Underground won't be so straightforward. Friendships will take longer than a couple of minutes to make and families will be found again. But something else is different. Someone has plans.
1. Chapter 1: A Brand New World

He stared as the child fell from the surface. At first they were a different shade of black with a cave ceiling as a backdrop. But as they got closer their details were more pronounced. He could see the striped long sleeved shirt be billowed by the passing air, and the bowl like haircut pushed back revealing a terrified face. He wasn't sure which gender the child was, it was always random with each timeline. He felt . . . something stir within his mind as he took note of the child's wide eyes with wet edges.

Yes, yes this will work. Or at least it will be his best chance for it to work. Suddenly the child's body hit the ground with a cracking SMACK. The kind of smack that would have killed a normal child if it weren't for their DETERMINATION. The child cried out a shriek and grabbed their arm. Again, something stirred. It was there, he could tell but he couldn't quite get it. Like an obscured light in the fog. Yes, this will do. Well, might as well get started.

* * *

Frisk never felt pain like this before. They once fell over on their bike, well, a bike, and skinned their knee. They once fell over and knocked one of their teeth out. Neither of those things could even compare to the constant shooting pain coursing through their right arm. They cried and yelled at the top of their lungs just trying to do something. Whether it was to alleviate the pain or get help they didn't know, but they did it anyway. Frisk was barely aware of a voice nearby.

"Hey kid. Is your arm hurting you?" it asked. Through the crying and screeching Frisk nodded. "Listen kid, we can't talk if you keep on screaming. So I'll help you if you promise to help me. Got it?" Frisk nodded. "Good." Frisk felt their arm forcibly moved from their body. They flinched in response but the voice stopped them. "Don't move," it said. "It'll only make it worse."

Frisk felt force their arm back into place and two long objects were pressed to the sides. They felt them getting tighter and press their arm on both sides.

" _This feels right,_ " Frisk thought to themself. The pain was still there but it wasn't as horrible and wasn't getting worse. After a couple of moments they opened their eyes and blinked away the tears blurring their vision. Looking around they saw that they were lying on a bed of flowers. Frisk was faintly aware of a smell, like a small grassy field. They looked at their arm and found two sticks were tied on both sides by a lot of small vines. Or were they roots? Frisk couldn't tell.

"You can oogle at it later. We need to talk," the voice said. Frisk turned to see a strange creature in front of them. It was a flower like the many ones she was laying on, but it had a simple face in the middle of the petals. "Can you pay attention cryb- kid?" it asked.

Frisk nodded, holding back a sniffle. They knew if they tried to talk the previous crying would make that harder. "Okay, normally this is the part where I introduce myself and I teach you how cruel the world can be. Since she's about to show up any minute let's just say that the fall will count as my lesson." Frisk decided the flower was a boy. The pitch sounded like one a bit younger than them, but the tone and facial expression reminded them of some adults. The flower continued. "So about the favor you owe me? For now just get out of the Ruins as soon as you can. Do it when you're ready though. When Toriel is asleep and trusts you. Got it? I'll explain more later. Oh and don't mention me to anyone." And with that last part the flower dove his head into the ground and suddenly it was gone. The only evidence of his existence were the two sticks tied to Frisk's arm.

Pushing off on their left arm, Frisk shakingly got up. They looked up to where they fell. Judging by how little the hole looks and how big it actually was when they fell, they were like, a mile down. Right? That sounded right.

While Frisk was looking up they heard a gasp. Looking back down Frisk saw a tall furred creature-person with long floppy horns and a snout. They reminded Frisk of a goat, or a cow. A goat-cow-person. They were wearing a simple dress with a weird symbol in purple on the front. The person's paws were covering their mouth and their eyes were wide. The person's eyes blinked after awhile and shook their head. They pushed off from the doorway and approached .

"Oh my goodness, my child," she said. "Are you alright? Let me look at your arm." Making long and quick strides the woman crossed the distance to Frisk. Wow she was much taller than Frisk thought. She knelt down to Frisk's height and gently lifted Frisk's arm. The woman looked up and down Frisk's arm with a very intense look in her eyes. "Now then," she said while looking at their arm. "Let me know if anything I do hurts." Frisk nodded. The woman began poking up and down Frisk's arm. When she got closer to the middle of Frisk's lower arm did Frisk feel a shooting pain. They let out a whine and the woman made sure her pokes around that area were much more gentle.

After a couple of moments the woman stopped around the area and held her paw above it. The woman's eyes closed and her eyebrows scrunched together. The paw above Frisk's arm began to glow. Frisk gasped.

" _Magic_ ," Frisk thought, their eyes fixed on the glow. And suddenly their arm began to feel very warm and comfy. Like how they felt wrapped up in blankets during winter, but only their arm. After a moment the glow died out and the pain was gone. There was an ache, but the pain was gone.

"There, does your arm feel better?" When Frisk nodded the woman stood up and exhaled a long breath. "Thank goodness. Hello my child, my name is Toriel. I'm the caretaker of the Ruins. I'm truly glad I heard your cries for help, or you may have had to deal with your broken arm much longer than you should. Now come, let me guide you through your new home." And with that Toriel turned around and gestured for Frisk to follow. Frisk ran up to Toriel's right side and grabbed her hand. Frisk wasn't going to let this magic lady out of their sight.

Toriel's head snapped down in surprise to Frisk. Her open maw hanging uselessly until it slowly morphed into a smile. The two walked past the bed of flowers and towards the old door entrance that Toriel came out of.

In the new room Frisk's eyes scanned the old stone stairs and walls. It felt like Frisk was in an ancient alien castle. Their eyes followed the trail of leaves that formed a square in the middle of the room. But right before Frisk could focus on the pile of leaves their eyes stopped at the glow at the back of the room, right before the pile of leaves. Frisk felt this tugging in the core of their being to approach it. Frisk pulled Toriel's hand towards the shiny thing. As soon as they wrapped their hand around they felt the lingering ache in their arm completely disappear. A weird artificial noise alerted Frisk to something and they looked up. Suddenly the ruins themselves took a whole new meaning. The shadows were so big, suggesting and implying they came from something even bigger. The bigness of the Ruins were suddenly more than size but . . . something else to Frisk. These thoughts filled them with DETERMINATION.

A black box appeared in Frisk's vision. It was rather large and floated right above the second floor landing. SAVE? It asked.

* * *

 **So. This story. The basic premise of what you can expect from it is that it's going to be about a longer Undertale journey. Everything isn't as fast or linear of a journey as it is in the game, and Frisk will have more time to bond with everyone else. I will most likely write a collection of fluff scenes that I will make into another story that will run parallel to this one. Or possibly just keep them here. Or skip them entirely. And as you can probably tell there are going to be big changes in this "run." The characters will be different, either intentionally or due to my own interpretation of them. And of course there will be revelations to things that happened in the past that isn't canon but I think help explain character's actions. I will try my best to make the story as plausible as possible.**

 **Something about this story I'm unsure on and would like to hear your thoughts on. I really like the relationship (or the idea of) Sans and Toriel. But I'm not entirely sure on whether to make it romantic or platonic. Please let me know what you think. Might make a poll, might just ask you to say that in your review.**


	2. Chapter 2: Welcome to the Ruins

" _This is really weird,_ " Frisk thought. The black box was still there. SAVE? it still said. Frisk had no idea what this was. Frisk took a shaky breath and asked, "Is this a monster thing?" No one responded. In fact there was no sound whatsoever. Frisk turned to Toriel. "Uh, ma'am?" they asked. Toriel's eyes were frozen facing down at Frisk, her lips stuck in a slight smile. " _This is weird,_ " Frisk thought

Frisk pulled at their arm trying to drag it out of her grasp. While before Toriel's grip was soft and gentle it refused to be moved by Frisk's pushing and pulling. Frisk sighed. They weren't sure if time existed but they were pretty sure it was still being wasted. Staring back up at the black box Frisk focused all of their attention on it.

SAVE? It still asked. "Umm . . . sure?" they said. No response. Frisk tried reaching forward and touching the box. Their hand just phased right through. Now what? Frisk tried to pull on their knowledge of tv shows and books. Maybe they could try to will their response? Frisk steadied their breathing and stared at the box. Frisk's head turned red and their whole body began shaking. Frisk, staring at the black box, was filled with DETERMINATION.

On the black box, right below the "SAVE?" a YES and a NO appeared. Next to the YES the symbol of a heart glowed. It was strange, looking at it, they felt some kind of a connection. Frisk wanted the heart to move to the NO, and the heart disappeared from the YES and reappeared next to the NO. Frisk switched back and forth between the two options for a little bit before they stopped the heart right next to the YES. Frisk wanted to SAVE. This time when they focused it didn't take nearly as long. All the text in the box vanished and was replaced by large yellow text that said, "FILE SAVED." After a beat the box vanished completely. Frisk stared at the empty space where the box once was. " _What did that do?_ " Frisk thought.

"My child are you okay?" Toriel asked.

Frisk jumped and looked at the woman. She was looking down at Frisk with scrunched eyebrows and a weary smile. "I know that the Ruins may seem like a scary place but I assure you, I will keep you safe."

Frisk didn't think this place was scary, but they couldn't tell Toriel what just happened so they just nodded their head.

The concern in Toriel's expression washed off. "Now come along, I still need to show you the rest of the ruins and its puzzles." And with that said, Toriel gently squeezed Frisk's hand and guided them up the stairs.

At first Frisk thought the door at the top was covered completely in shadow, or the room beyond had no light. They blinked their eyes and doorway became completely normal, the next room completely visible. " _Weird,_ " Frisk thought.

The next room was a much smaller room than the other one. A little longer than a living room, or at least what Frisk imagines a living room to look like. Off to the right were six switches on the ground and a switch on the opposite wall next to the door.

"So young one," Toriel said gaining Frisk's attention. "As you can see rooms in the monster world are different from those in the human world. Your new home, the Ruins are filled with puzzles. You will have to learn either solutions or how to solve them yourselves if you want to move safely here. Do you want to try it yourself or do you want me to show you?" She asked.

Frisk looked back at the room, shifting their weight from one foot to the other. "Umm, how does it work?" They asked, barely above a whisper.

Toriel's lips curved upwards as the corners of her eyes crinkled. Frisk really liked that smile. "Go and read the sign on the far wall, I'll be here if you need help," Toriel said. Letting go of Frisk's hand Toriel gestured for Frisk to follow her instructions.

Frisk ran over to the far wall and looked at the steel sign bolted into the brick and read the carving. "Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both not walk the middle road," it read. That wasn't very clear. "Oh," Frisk said. "It's a riddle!" Turning to Toriel, the woman nodded in confirmation. Okay. Frisk has seen riddles on tv before, they've got this.

So Frisk can't walk a "middle path" to solve this. They have to go to the sides of the room? No that doesn't make sense. It has to deal with the switches right? Oh wait! What if they pressed one of the side switches and not the middle ones? Frisk ran over to press the switches. First they'll try the left. Jumping on both switches to the left they ran over to the lever and pulled on it. After a moment nothing happened. Frisk heard a click sound behind them and saw the switches they pressed were back to their original positions.

Okay, now the other side. Same result. Well there goes that idea.

"You're on the right path my child," Toriel said.

How? What else could Frisk do? Looking at the switches Frisk's eyes widened. "Oh!" they said. Quickly the human pushed down both of the left tiles and then the right tiles. This time when they pulled the lever the door responded with a satisfying groan.

Turning around Frisk found Toriel standing behind them with a proud grin stretched across her face. "Very good my child. Impressive for a first try."

Frisk blushed and looked down. All they did was solve a puzzle, this lady was being very nice. "Thank you," Frisk muttered.

"Now come my child, let's go to the next room."

* * *

Toriel couldn't stop smiling even if she wanted to. After a month of making a new friend that was silly and not scared of her, she found a new child and took them in. At this rate she'll have all the friends and family she could ever want by next year. She suppressed an empty bleat of laughter. If only. As if her self imposed exile would suddenly solve itself. No, she was going have to accept the consequences of running away. Toriel shook her head. Enough of the sad thoughts.

The new child looked around the room. Their expression was mostly neutral but their eyes shone with with hidden energy and curiosity.

"Can I try the puzzle in this room?" The child asked very quietly. Toriel realized they didn't ask this young one's name.

"I am afraid not, I have already labeled the solutions on the wall so I do not think it would offer a challenge for you. But you may pull the levers if you like." The child paused for a moment and nodded their head. As both Toriel and the child walked on the bridge towards the first lever Toriel spoke up. "My child," they looked up at Toriel. "I've just realized that I during the introductions I forgot to ask for your name. Would you mind telling me?"

Their eyes flickered downwards for a moment before meeting Toriel's gaze again. "Frisk," they said.

Toriel smiled as warmly as she could. "Well it's very nice to meet you Frisk." Frisk's only response was to turn their gaze to the wall the two of them were approaching. Toriel did not comment on Frisk's cheeks being a little bit more pink.

* * *

After "solving" the last puzzle Frisk paused in their small steps besides Toriel when they entered the next room. Instead of any obstacles, the next door was completely open. In the middle of the room was a dummy.

Toriel said, "In the ruins and the underground you will have to know what to do when you encounter a monster. We will practice by having you enter an encounter with the dummy and you can pretend to stall for time for me to show up."

Toriel lead Frisk up to the dummy, and then purposefully let go of their hand and walked to the exit. Instead of leaving like Frisk feared Toriel stopped right before exiting. She turned around and watched Frisk with expectant eyes.

Frisk turned to look at the dummy. They took a small step forward, the dummy was now in arms reach. Looking up at the black fake eyes Frisk noticed something weird. A small amount of intelligence. The silence in the air seemed less empty and more of a held breath of someone purposefully not saying anything.

While Frisk was making these observations they noticed there was a red light coming off the eyes. At first Frisk thought it was something demonic, but then they realized it wasn't coming from the eyes but reflected off of it. Looking down Frisk almost jumped in surprise seeing a red heart shaped glow on their chest. It was a warm and encouraging sensation. A connection similar with that black box earlier but more . . . real is how Frisk would describe it.

"Don't worry Frisk," Toriel said. "That just means you are in an encounter. You're not in any danger, this is just practice." Frisk didn't even think it was dangerous, just weird.

"Is this usually dangerous?" Frisk asked to Toriel.

Toriel's eyes widened. Her fur seemed to turn pinker as she averted her gaze. "Ah, I'll explain later after," Toriel said.

Frisk looked back at the dummy. Nothing about the dummy has changed. It just stood there. Frisk took another step forward closely examining it. The dummy seemed like it was made from cloth and fabric. And now looking closely Frisk could see the eyes were just black buttons. But still . . . there was life behind it.

Going back to their original position. Frisk looked up at the dummy. What do they say? Are they supposed to pretend like they were the dummy was right about to beat them up? Do they beg to be let go? No Toriel said to pretend to stall them. Do they compliment them? Distract them with something nearby? Threaten them with Toriel's soon arrival? How is Frisk supposed to decide between any of these options? Frisk doesn't know anything about this monster.

It was in the middle of Frisk's quiet turmoil that they and Toriel heard a very drawn out sigh come from the dummy. Frisk looked up in surprise just in time to see the dummy rise off the ground and float out of the room. Frisk looked back down to find the red heart disappeared. Frisk was about to ask Toriel what just happened but stopped as Toriel was looking at where the dummy left confused.

"Let's," Toriel paused. "Let's move on."

Before Toriel could fully exit, Frisk caught up behind her and asked, "Ms. Toriel? Did I do something wrong? I just didn't know what to say."

Toriel smiled down at Frisk. "No my child. It wasn't your fault. I have just never seen the dummy do . . . that." She shook her head. "Don't worry about not thinking of something to say. That's something we'll work on. And here's a quick piece of advice for you. Try to either say something nice for them, or do something nice for them. All you have to do is pay attention. I know that's hard to learn by talking to a dummy but that wasn't the exact purpose of the exercise. You did fine Frisk." Frisk nodded, a small smile forming at the edge of their lips. Usually when adults said "you did fine" it was just because they wanted Frisk to stop crying or being nervous. But Toriel, Frisk could actually believe Toriel.

Frisk and Toriel walked into the next room. All Frisk could see at the moment was an open room curving to the right. "Now then, I know you are excited about solving puzzles but I'm personally not sure how safe it is for you to try. Maybe-" Toriel was saying. Frisk didn't hear anything past that because as they were walking a weird big frog creature in a cloak hopped out from around the corner. Both Frisk and the creature froze, staring at each other in confusion. Snapping Frisk to their senses they noticed their chest was making a red glow again. Okay so this is an encounter.

"Umm . . . you look nice today?" Frisk mumbled. The monster tilted it's head in confusion, and at the same time looked like it was going to say something until both it and Frisk's attention was turned towards the sound of a clearing throat.

Standing to the side Toriel looked down at the monster with a stern glare and her arms crossed. A small frown was on her face. Frisk could only feel sorry for the monster as it hopped away with its head downcast. Frisk looked down at their chest to find the glow went away again.

"How was that?" Frisk asked. Instantly Toriel's glare turned to a warm and . . . motherly expression.

"Very good my child. It was a toad-al success." Frisk paused at the weird pronunciation before it clicked in their head. They giggled. Toriel's smile turned a bit brighter and bigger. "Now come on let's get through this next puzzle."

After Toriel led Frisk through the "too dangerous" puzzle Toriel stopped as soon they entered the next room. Turning to Frisk Toriel said, "Frisk, I have something I wish to ask of you." Frisk nodded, signaling Toriel to continue. "I want you to wait for me to leave your sights and then walk to the end of this room by yourself. Can you do that?" Toriel said.

Frisk wasn't a baby! Frisk could be in a room alone easily. Before they nodded a thought occurred to them. "Are there any traps or anything in here?"

"No no my child."

Frisk then nodded. "Then I'll be fine."

"Good. And remember, wait until I'm out of sight." And with that said Toriel turned around and briskly went down the long room.

After only a few yards or so did Frisk notice Toriel's shape was getting much more distant and harder to see. That's weird, does Frisk need glasses now? They didn't think that's how bad vision worked. And before they knew it Toriel was gone. Shaking their thoughts from their head Frisk crossed the hallway.

Well that was uneventful. Frisk was expecting a puzzle, or a monster encounter, or something. Nope. All they did was walk down a very very long hallway. Maybe they missed a secret or something. Right before Frisk was able to turn around and head back, Toriel emerged from behind the pillar.

"Greetings Frisk. Don't worry I was just hiding here the whole time," she said. "I'm sorry that I may have made you feel lonely. But there was a reason for this exercise. I wanted to test your independence. I know it may not seem so, but I have found this to be a good base test. Now I will have to leave you alone for some time as I go on some errands. I will leave with you a cell phone so you may call me should the need arise." Toriel bent over and presented to Frisk in her furry paw a very old cell phone.

Frisk took it and looked it over. "Nokia" it had printed on the top. They have not seen a phone like this in real life before. Only on tv. Granted they've seen very few cellphones in real life in general but most of those had either a touch screen or a keypad.

"Just call if you need anything. Be good, alright?" And with that said Toriel left the room.

After what felt like an hour Frisk walked to the end of the hallway, peeking their head out of the door. Toriel just wanted them to stay nearby right? It would be fine if they just look around the immediate area.

Stepping outside of the hallway into the new room, Frisk jumped as the phone rang immediately. Frisk answered the call with a quiet, "Hello?"

"Hello to you too. This is Toriel. I just wanted to make sure you did not leave the room. Did you?" she asked.

Frisk looked back at the hallway they just left. "No," they said.

Toriel seemed to not figure out Frisk was lying. "Good. Just wanted to remind you that it is dangerous in the ruins and the next puzzles I want to be there when you try to solve them."

"Okay," Frisk said. And with that Toriel hung up. Frisk could probably explore a little right? The Ruins couldn't be that bad.

* * *

The phone made a happy beep as Toriel ended the call. Of course her child was fine. Toriel just worried too much sometimes. Stuffing her own phone away Toriel continued to walk through the ruins of the city. The thumping of her large paws echoed through the vacant streets. Toriel shook her head looking around at the crumbling infrastructure. It was shame that Home was almost completely abandoned. It was too big to be this empty.

Toriel turned the corner and entered the store. The Parsnik owner and the Froggit both immediately stopped talking. Both were staring up at her completely silent. Parsnik's snakes shot up straight, frozen. Toriel put on the warmest smile she could. "Greetings Parsnik. How have you been today?" Toriel asked.

Parsnik's snakes hissed amongst themselves for a few moments before Parsnik herself answered. "I'm d-doing fine your majesty," she said.

Toriel nodded and turned to the frozen Froggit. "And how about you Froggit?"

Froggit looked nervously side to side before she said, "N-nothing eventful."

Toriel repressed a sigh. One day she'll get the monsters to see her as something other than a boss monster. "I would like to purchase some more pie ingredients. Do you have them all in stock?"

Parsnik nodded. "Of course your majesty. That will be 25 GP altogether," she said as a few of her snakes detached from her head and slithered to get the ingredients. Toriel rummaged through her pockets and pulled out the requested amount. She placed the gold pieces on the counter just in time for the snakes to return with all of the ingredients.

"Um, is that all your majesty?" the Froggit asked. Toriel thought over her inventory of supplies back home. She slapped her forehead. "Oh silly me. I need to ask Frisk about what filling they would like," she said. Toriel took her phone out, but right before she dialed her spare phone's number she had a thought. " _But I do want to keep it a surprise_." She turned to the Parsnik store owner. "What kind of fillings do you have?" Toriel asked.

"Well we have butterscotch and cinnamon," the Parsnik said.

Toriel immediately dialed Frisk's phone number. Once Frisk answered Toriel said, "Hello, this is Toriel. For no particular reason, between butterscotch and cinnamon, which do you prefer?"

There was a pause on the other side for a moment before a quiet voice answered, "Butterscotch."

"Oh, thank you very much." And with that, Toriel hung up.

"I would like to buy the butterscotch please," Toriel said.

Parsnik nodded her head . . . somehow. "Of course your majesty. But I will let you know we have a deal this week. The butterscotch and cinnamon can be bought at a discount price if they are bought together," she said.

Well . . . it has been awhile since she made a butterscotch and cinnamon pie. She called Frisk again.

"Hello, this is Toriel again. You do not dislike cinnamon do you? I know what you said but, would you turn your nose up if you found it on your plate?"

After another pause Frisk said, "Umm, I don't know? I've never had cinnamon before."

"Alright then. Thank you for letting me know. I'll try to not keep you waiting in that room any farther. I will be back to help guide you through the difficult parts of the ruins soon."

* * *

When Toriel ended the call, Frisk pocketed the phone. They looked at the spikes in front of them, and then back down at their feet at the rock that just moved off of the switch.

"What?" the rock asked. Frisk whined a "mmm." As they pouted they thought, " _This is annoying._ "

* * *

"Dwayne the tub I'm dwoning!" he said.

Toriel laughed. "That's an amazing one Dishes," she said.

"I've got _door_ where that came from, Old Lady."

Toriel giggled. Oh how she a-doors these conversations. It's no wonder she came down here to talk to Dishes. Now usually Dishes would be an odd name. And usually Old Lady would be something that Toriel would not want anyone to call her. But they aren't normal nicknames. They're nicknames based on the first jokes they told each other, technically their first introductions. And since neither really wanted to tell their real names, the nicknames stuck.

"Ok Old Lady, your go," Dishes said after Toriel paused.

"Alright then Dishes. I have a question for you. Why did the skeleton want a friend?"

"I dunno, why?

"Because she was _bonely_."

Toriel's punchline was rewarded by a deep and loud laugh from the other side of the door. Toriel smiled to herself.

"Alright my go. Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

"Spell."

"Spell who?"

"Alright. W. H. O."

Toriel laughed. It ended shortly as Toriel remembered her child. She knew that Frisk could be in the hallway for a few more minutes. But . . .

"Hey, Old Lady, you ok?" Dishes asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Toriel shook her head. She needed to remember why she came down to the door in the first place. She turned her body fully around to face the door instead of leaning her back on it while sitting on a stool.

"My friend. I would like to ask you to promise something. If a human child ever comes through this door. Watch over them, protect them, will you not?" Toriel knew that she didn't know this monster well. And he didn't know that much about her. Only the few details about their lives they wanted to talk about but . . . Toriel wanted to make sure Frisk would always have one friend they can count on if they somehow get outside the Ruins.

There was a long pause on the other side of the door before Dishes finally responded. "Ya know, I don't usually make promises."

Toriel's shoulder and face drooped. Not all that surprised by sad all the same. "Oh," she said. "I see."

"But," Dishes continued. "You're a fellow lover of bad jokes. What kind of person would I be if I can't make a promise with someone of your integrity?"

Toriel's posture straightened up. "You mean?"

"Yeah Old Lady. I promise. I'll keep an eyeso- an eye out for em."

"Thank you Dishes. Now I'm sorry that we have to end our conversation short. But I must go back. I think I left my child alone long enough now." As Toriel was standing from her stool, she was stopped by the voice.

"Wait."

Toriel paused. "Yes?"

"The kid. The human. What are they like?"

Toriel paused to consider the question. "A little timid and scared I suppose. It's hard to tell when they try so hard to not show any emotions. But they seem to enjoy the few riddles and puzzles they have come across. I believe your brother may like them Dishes."

"Really? They must be the coolest then."

"Of course. They are very strong as well. I found them with a broken arm, and they made splint all themselves."

"Oh?" Dishes voice sounded very curious.

"Yes. Of course I hope they never have to be injured like that again. But their ability to manage such an injury is impressive, especially with their age."

"Huh." A pause. "How old's the kid?"

Toriel thought it over in her head. "Six at the least I would say. No more than nine though."

There was a distinct pause from the other side of the door.

"That's good to know. The reason I ask Old Lady, it's just, well. I'm not accusing anyone of nothin' but- be careful, alright? You and I both know how powerful humans are."

There was a strange inflection on Dishes' words that Toriel paused. " _What could he mean by that?_ " Toriel thought.

"I'll be fine Dishes. I think I can handle a small child.."

An unreadable chuckle responded from the other side. "Alright Old Lady. If you say so. Anyway, good luck. Motherhood's the greatest challenge of all."

Toriel sighed. "Yes, yes it is Dishes." Another pause. "Well, I suppose I should be going."

"See ya around Old Lady," Dishes muffled voice followed her as she headed towards her home.

* * *

"Thank you for the doughnut," Frisk said as they walked away from the spider web. The spiders waved back and scurried back to their business.

Frisk went back through the ruins, past the ruins they've already solved and the monsters they've already befriended. They wore the red ribbon they found like a badge of honor and held their donut like a trophy. Frisk didn't know why Toriel was so worried. The Ruins were no problem. Well, as long as they had candy on them and and ate the magic food from the vegetable monsters. Frisk looked at the last two pieces of candy they had on them. " _Are these magic?_ " Frisk thought, as they thought back to the times when they ate a piece and suddenly all their wounds healed. They shrugged and put it back into their pocket.

They turned the corner entering the second to last place they haven't been to in the Ruins. Standing right in front of Frisk was a large blackened tree. The area around it was absolutely covered with red and orange leaves. Frisk paused right before they bit into the doughnut when they hard Toriel's voice.

"Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would," Toriel muttered to herself as she walked towards Frisk. Frisk put their donut into their pocket and walked around the tree into Toriel's line of sight.

"Hi Toriel," they greeted.

"My child," Toriel said. She made quick strides to Frisk and knelt over to examine them. "How did you get here? Are you injured? What happened?"

Frisk suddenly became very aware of how closely Toriel was examining them. And how they broke their promise and left that room. And didn't tell Toriel about the possible dangers. Both Frisk's eyes and arms dropped down. "Well . . . I . . ." Frisk began. "I met some different monsters. Some were like that frog one I met earlier. And . . . uh."

Frisk stopped, looking back up at Toriel. Instead of seeing anger or exasperation Toriel's eyes were solely focused on Frisk, paying attention to everything they said. Frisk continued. "I solved some puzzles with rocks. And I met this ghost named Napstablook. He didn't attack me as much and made some of his magic tears into a hat. And I fell down some holes and found this ribbon," As Frisk was saying this they pointed to the ribbon tied around their forehead like a headband. Frisk had no idea why or how they were able to talk so much. Then again they've never had this much to talk about. Or people who wanted to listen. Frisk suddenly remembered something. They reached into their pocket and pulled out the doughnut they just stored there. "Oh yeah, and I bought this from a spiders with all the money I found," they said.

Toriel took a few breaths that got less shaky each time. Eventually she stood up and said, "My goodness my child. I suppose you've had an exciting day. While I'm glad you seem to have gotten out unscathed, I wish you were not in any danger at all. It was irresponsible of me to try to surprise you like this." Toriel paused. Frisk made a noise signaling curiosity. "Err . . ." Toriel said. "Well, I suppose I should show you it now." And with that, Toriel took Frisk's hand into their new home.

* * *

Frisk was shown their new room, and after Toriel saved the pie, the two shared a slice as Frisk described the rest of their day. Eventually Frisk was guided to their room (under weak protest) and tucked into bed. Toriel read a story to Frisk about two snails that went on an adventure across a garden. Once she was done Frisk's eyelids felt like they were weighted.

Toriel closed the book and gently got up from the chair next to the bed. She leaned over and kissed Frisk's forehead. "Goodnight my child," Toriel whispered.

"Night Mom," Frisk whispered back.

Toriel could feel herself freeze, halfway to standing up straight. It took Frisk a moment before they realized what they said. Sleep washed off of Frisk and their eyes shot open. They looked up at Toriel from the corner of their eyes. They slowly sat up in their bed.

"Umm . . . I. Ms. Toriel, I, uh," Frisk stumbled. Frisk's eyes would not leave Toriel but at the same time would not reach Toriel's eyes.

The tension left Toriel's body. She rested her paw on Frisk's hand. "Frisk. I really don't mind if you see me as your mother. In fact, I would rather enjoy if I, myself, could regard you as my, well, my _actual_ child," Toriel said.

Frisk swallowed and nodded their head at her words. "Okay," they whispered. "Then, umm, goodnight . . . Mom?'

Toriel smiled and nodded her head. "Goodnight Frisk," she said. Despite it being their name, Frisk felt like it was now short for "my child" to Toriel.

Toriel quietly left the room, minimizing the creaks of the floorboards. Frisk laid back down in their bed. Resting their head on their pillow, they stared up at the ceiling. Any possibility of sleep has left Frisk's body and mind as one question took its place. " _What now?_ " they thought.

* * *

 **And that's the first part. At first I was planning on writing a chapter every eight days, but after writing this one . . . yeah that's not going to be possible.**

 **So what you can expect next chapter. All I can really say is that Frisk isn't going to leave the Ruins right away. They're going to stay in the Ruins with Toriel, at least for a little bit. And with that some changes will occur. I will also be introducing some differences between this story's Undertale and the "official" version. So I hope I do well on the next one.**

 **Please review to let me know what you think. What you liked, what you didn't, what you were confused by, etc.**


End file.
